Well into UCLA’s preseason camp, quarterback Brett Hundley stood beneath the bright San Bernardino sun encircled by a throng of reporters. Asked about his increased role in the offense, he talked about how he expected to shoulder a bigger load — particularly without All-American running back and roommate Johnathan Franklin by his side.

With the record-setting rusher off to the NFL, Hundley knew the Bruins’ success would hinge on his performance.

“The running game was huge last year and it helped me out a lot,” the redshirt sophomore said then. “This year, I feel like this offense has changed more into, ‘We’re going to depend a lot on this pass.’ … We’re going to be airing it out a little bit more.”

That was Hundley in mid-August.

And this is Hundley in late September: “I feel like the run sets up the passes.”

Huh?

In 2012, the Bruins’ run-pass play ratio was 1.21. This season, that number has ticked up to 1.33. That curious increase can be traced partially to UCLA’s huge margins of victory. The Bruins have won their three games by a total of 93 points, usually blowing open games by the third quarter. When the fourth rolls around, they’re able to use their third- and fourth-string backs to pound at an already worn-out defense.

Hundley hasn’t been asked yet to pull the team back from a late-game deficit. Nevertheless, the running game has surprised many onlookers this season, ranking 13th in the country after finishing last season 37th.

“It’s a balance,” Hundley said. “It’s a big balance with this team. I feel like this offense, it balances itself out. At the end of the day, teams can’t decide which one we’re going to do just because we can do either/or.”

Added running back Jordon James, currently ranked fifth in the country with 141.33 yards per game: “As the season goes on, I think people will key in more on the run and we’ll have to rely more on the pass. We have great receivers and a great quarterback, so we’ll get the job done.”

Feeling for Kiffin

Bruins head coach Jim Mora kept his thoughts on Lane Kiffin’s firing brief and civil Sunday afternoon, just half a day or so after the news broke. USC dumped its coach shortly after an embarrassing 62-41 loss at Arizona State, a game that saw the Sun Devils score four unanswered touchdowns in the third quarter.

“I certainly feel for him on a personal basis,” Mora said. “I’ve known him a long time. It’s disappointing. You never want to see anybody lose their job. He’s a good person. I just wish the best for him.”

Mora worked under Kiffin’s father, Monte, on the New Orleans Saints staff in 1995. The elder Kiffin spent one year as the Saints’ defensive coordinator, while Mora spent five years there coaching defensive backs.

Thigpen’s return

After tearing his ACL last November, running back Damien Thigpen will make his season debut against Utah on Thursday after finishing third on the team in all-purpose yards in 2012.

Given UCLA’s crowded backfield — three different tailbacks have scored multiple touchdowns — the plan is to work the senior back in slowly. Mora expects to give Thigpen “five-ish” carries in Salt Lake City, and to hold him out of kickoff returns until he gets more acclimated to contact.

“You’d like to see him run the ball up inside,” Mora said. “You’d like to see him catch a swing pass. You’d like to see him get downfield. You’d like to see him run the ball outside. I want to see him do those kinds of things.

“We have to manufacture some of that stuff, depending on how the game’s going.”

Jack Wang covers the Chargers, the latest NFL team to relocate to Los Angeles. He previously covered the Rams, and also spent four years on the UCLA beat, a strange period in which the Bruins' football program often outpaced their basketball team. He is a proud graduate of UC Berkeley, where he spent most of his time in The Daily Californian offices in Eshleman Hall — a building that did not become earthquake-safe until after his time on campus.

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